U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
NEWS
U.S. Department of Commerce * Washington, DC 20230


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8:30 A.M. EST FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

For information on goods contact:
U.S. Census Bureau:

Matthew Przybocki
301-763-3148

Maria Iseman
301-763-2311

For information on services contact:
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

Technical:  Edward Dozier
202-606-9559

Media:       Ralph Stewart
202-606-2649



CB12-41, BEA12-07, FT-900 (12-01)

U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES
January 2012


Goods and Services
    
    The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of 
Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, 
announced today that total January exports of $180.8 billion 
and imports of $233.4 billion resulted in a goods and services 
deficit of $52.6 billion, up from $50.4 billion in December, 
revised.  January exports were $2.6 billion more than 
December exports of $178.2 billion.  January imports were 
$4.7 billion more than December imports of $228.7 billion.
    
    In January, the goods deficit increased $2.4 billion from 
December to $67.5 billion, and the services surplus increased 
$0.3 billion from December to $14.9 billion.  Exports of goods 
increased $1.9 billion to $128.6 billion, and imports of goods 
increased $4.3 billion to $196.1 billion.  Exports of services 
increased $0.7 billion to $52.2 billion, and imports of services 
increased $0.4 billion to $37.3 billion.
    
    The goods and services deficit increased $5.0 billion from 
January 2011 to January 2012.  Exports were up $12.9 billion, 
or 7.7 percent, and imports were up $18.0 billion, or 8.4 
percent.
    
Goods (Census Basis)
    
    The December to January increase in exports of goods 
reflected increases in capital goods ($1.3 billion); automotive 
vehicles, parts, and engines ($1.1 billion); and foods, feeds, 
and beverages ($0.1 billion).  Decreases occurred in other 
goods ($0.5 billion); industrial supplies and materials ($0.3 
billion); and consumer goods ($0.2 billion).
      
 
 

   The December to January increase in imports of goods 
reflected increases in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines 
($2.4 billion); industrial supplies and materials ($1.1 billion); 
foods, feeds, and beverages ($0.4 billion); and consumer 
goods ($0.2 billion).  A decrease occurred in other goods ($0.1 
billion).  Capital goods were virtually unchanged.
   
   The January 2011 to January 2012 increase in exports of 
goods reflected increases in capital goods ($4.3 billion); 
industrial supplies and materials ($2.5 billion); automotive 
vehicles, parts, and engines ($1.9 billion); and consumer 
goods ($0.4 billion).  A decrease occurred in other goods ($0.1 
billion).  Foods, feeds, and beverages were virtually 
unchanged. 
   
   
   
   The January 2011 to January 2012 increase in imports of 
goods reflected increases in industrial supplies and materials 
($5.3 billion); automotive vehicles, parts, and engines ($3.4 
billion); capital goods ($2.8 billion); consumer goods ($1.4 
billion); foods, feeds, and beverages ($1.2 billion); and other 
goods ($0.7 billion).
    
Services

    Exports of services increased $0.7 billion from December 
to January.  The increase was mostly accounted for by 
increases in other private services (which includes items such 
as business, professional, and technical services, insurance 
services, and financial services), travel, royalties and license 
fees, and passenger fares.  Changes in the other categories of 
services exports were small.
    
	Imports of services increased $0.4 billion from December 
to January.  The increase was more than accounted for by 
increases in other private services, other transportation 
(which includes freight and port services), and passenger 
fares.  A decrease in travel was partly offsetting.  Changes in 
the other categories of services imports were small.
				
	The January 2011 to January 2012 increase in exports of 
services was $3.9 billion.  The largest increases were in 
royalties and license fees ($1.7 billion), other private services 
($1.1 billion), and travel ($0.6 billion).  Within other private 
services, the largest increase was in business, professional, and 
technical services.

	The January 2011 to January 2012 increase in imports of 
services was $2.7 billion.  The largest increases were in other 
private services ($1.9 billion) and royalties and license fees 
($0.4 billion).  Within other private services, the largest 
increase was in business, professional, and technical services.
    
Goods and Services Moving Average

    For the three months ending in January, exports of goods 
and services averaged $178.9 billion, while imports of goods 
and services averaged $229.0 billion, resulting in an average 
trade deficit of $50.2 billion.  For the three months ending in 
December, the average trade deficit was $47.0 billion, 
reflecting average exports of $178.5 billion and average 
imports of $225.5 billion.
 

Selected Not Seasonally Adjusted Goods Details
    
    The January figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, 
with Hong Kong $2.1 ($2.5 for December), Australia $1.6 
($1.7), Singapore $0.8 ($1.3), and Egypt $0.2 ($0.2). Deficits 
were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China $26.0 ($23.1), 
OPEC $10.0 ($9.1), European Union $8.5 ($9.6), Japan $6.2 
($6.5), Canada $4.8 ($3.9), Mexico $4.2 ($4.9), Germany $4.1 
($4.8), Ireland $2.3 ($2.8), Venezuela $2.0 ($2.0), Korea $1.4 
($0.5), Taiwan $1.3 ($0.8), and Nigeria $1.3 ($1.3).          
    Advanced technology products exports were $22.5 billion 
in January and imports were $29.2 billion, resulting in a 
deficit of $6.7 billion.  January exports were $3.7 billion less 
than the $26.2 billion in December, while January imports 
were $5.0 billion less than the $34.2 billion in December.
    
Revisions  

    For all months of 2011, the seasonally adjusted goods 
data, on both a Census basis and a balance of payments basis, 
and the seasonally adjusted services data were revised to align 
the months with the annual totals.
   
Census Basis (not seasonally adjusted)
    
    For December, exports of goods were virtually unrevised 
and imports of goods were revised up $0.4 billion. Goods 
carry-over in January was $0.2 billion (0.2 percent) for exports 
and $1.3 billion (0.7 percent) for imports.  For December, 
revised export carry-over was virtually zero. For December, 
revised import carry-over was $0.2 billion (0.1 percent).

Balance of Payments Basis (seasonally adjusted)
    
    For July through December 2011, exports and imports of 
goods and services were revised to incorporate more 
comprehensive and updated quarterly and monthly data.
    
    For December, exports of goods were revised down $0.4 
billion and imports of goods were revised up $0.4 billion.
    
    For December, exports of services were revised down 
$0.2 billion, mostly reflecting downward revisions in travel 
and passenger fares that were partly offset by upward 
revisions in other private services and royalties and license 
fees.  For December, imports of services were revised up $0.7 
billion, mostly reflecting an upward revision in other private 
services.              


NOTICE

Effective with this release, the U.S. Census Bureau (Census) and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) 
have implemented the following changes:

Changes to the Real Chained (2005) Dollar Series

Census has begun seasonally adjusting selected export and import prices that previously were not seasonally 
adjusted.  These prices are used in calculating the chained dollar series that are presented in Exhibits 10 and 11.  
Chained dollar statistics for 2010 and 2011 have been revised to reflect this new procedure.  Statistics prior to 
2010 will be made available with the release of the Annual Revision for 2011 on June 8, 2012.  For time series 
consistency, statistics calculated using the not seasonally adjusted prices are available upon request.

This change improves the overall quality of the chained dollar series by removing identified seasonal patterns.  
Additional information is available at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aip/seasonalchain.html.  This change also 
improves consistency between the Census chained dollar data and the chained dollar data published by BEA in 
the National Income and Product Accounts.  For information on recent changes to BEAs seasonal adjustment 
procedures, see Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts in the August 2011 Survey of 
Current Business, p. 27.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact the Special Projects Branch of the U.S. 
Census Bureaus Foreign Trade Division on (301) 763-3251 or the Data Dissemination Branch at 
ftd.data.dissemination@census.gov.

Changes to Countries Featured in Exhibit 18 and in Supplemental Exhibit 3

Census and BEA have changed the countries that are featured in Exhibit 18 and in Supplemental Exhibit 3 in 
order to reflect a more comprehensive picture of current U.S. trade in motor vehicles and parts and in crude oil, 
respectively.  The general structure of these exhibits is unchanged.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact the Data Dissemination Branch of the 
U.S. Census Bureaus Foreign Trade Division on (800) 549-0595, option 4, or at 
ftd.data.dissemination@census.gov.

Changes to End-Use Commodity Category Descriptions

Census and BEA changed the descriptions of four end-use commodity categories within consumer goods in 
order to better reflect the composition of these categories as well as changes in technology.  These changes, 
listed below, appear in Exhibits 7 and 8.

       New Description					Previous Description			

Televisions and video equipment 			TVs, VCRs, etc.			
Other consumer nondurables 				Writing and art supplies 		
Cell phones and other household goods, n.e.c.		Other household goods			
Recorded media 					Records, tapes, and disks	 	
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact the Data Dissemination Branch of the 
U.S. Census Bureaus Foreign Trade Division on (800) 549-0595, option 4, or at 
ftd.data.dissemination@census.gov.




Table of Contents

Seasonally Adjusted

Exhibit 1
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services 
Exhibit 2
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Three-month Moving Averages 
Exhibit 3
U.S. Services by Major Category  Exports
Exhibit 4
U.S. Services by Major Category  Imports 
Exhibit 5
U.S. Trade in Goods
Exhibit 6
Exports and Imports of Goods by Principal End-Use Category 
Exhibit 7
Exports of Goods by End-Use Category and Commodity 
Exhibit 8
Imports of Goods by End-Use Category and Commodity 
Exhibit 9
Exports, Imports, and Balance of Goods, Petroleum and Non-Petroleum End-Use 
Category Totals 
Exhibit 10
Real Exports and Imports of Goods by Principal End-Use Category - Chained (2005) 
Dollars 
Exhibit 11
Real Exports, Imports, and Balance of Goods, Petroleum and Non-Petroleum End-Use 
Commodity Category Totals - Chained (2005) Dollars

Not Seasonally Adjusted

Exhibit 12
U.S. Trade in Goods
Exhibit 13
Exports and Imports of Goods by Principal End-Use Category
Exhibit 14
Exports, Imports, and Balance of Goods by Selected Countries and Areas
Exhibit 15
Exports and Imports of Goods by Principal SITC Commodities 
Exhibit 16
Exports, Imports, and Balance of Advanced Technology Products 
Exhibit 16a
Exports, Imports, and Balance of Advanced Technology Products by Technology
Group and Selected Countries and Areas 
21
Exhibit 17
Imports of Energy-Related Petroleum Products, Including Crude Oil
Exhibit 18
Exports and Imports of Motor Vehicles and Parts by Selected Countries 
Information on Goods and Services 




